You know, we don't get to talk about The Principality of Monaco enough. It's been a while since we last tripped over the postage stamp-sized country, but we're thinking it could be about time to return, especially if they're talking about doing direct connections between helicopters from Monaco and flights from Nice International Airport.

The news comes from HeliAir Monaco, who already keep the waterfront buzzing with 70,000-100,000 per year at the heliport. Currently, you can take a helicopter from Monaco to the Nice Cote d'Azur Airport in six minutes, but you've then still got to check into your flight and go through security. HeliAir is however renovating their heliport and in the final stages of making it possible to check in and clear security at the heliport, allowing you to go straight into the departure lounge for your flight from Nice.

We once did this with the old Wall Street-to-JFK helicopter service for a Delta flight, and it hearkens all the way back to the days when Pan Am flew upper class passengers from the top of their Midtown HQ direct to their waiting flights at JFK. But we're not talking about JFK; this is Monaco. Thus, we're surprised they haven't already had this in place. The price of a one-way flight from Monaco to Nice Airport now? 103 Euros.

If you're a multi-millionaire celebrity with a significant other of the same description, what do you do for vacation during the hot days of late August? Oh, you rent a yacht and go to Saint Tropez on France's Cote d'Azur, of course. Onboard the 177-foot yacht Altitude this week, you'll find Beyonce and Jay-Z soaking up the sun, hopping from Portofino to Cannes to Saint Tropez all to the tune of $377,000 per week.

Beyonce and Jay-Z are getting their money's worth, too. The Altitude boasts six cabins, a gym, and a Jacuzzi. They aren't the only celebs out running around on a rented yacht off the Riviera either; fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana (Dolce & Gabbana) have been motoring their yacht from Sardinia to Portofino and even down to the Aeolian Islands off Sicily so far this summer.

Given a choice, we'd party along with D&G, since their yachting adventure lasts practically the whole season. Who would you rather float around with?

Hugh Grant and Elzabeth Hurley prove that exes can still be friends. Ten years after their infamous break-up, Hugh flew to Nice, France to hang out with Liz, her son Damien (who greeted him at the airport), and her husband Arun Nayar.

Not long ago, Hurley addressed her relationship with Grant, saying, "Sometimes Hugh and I can get morbid and say we could have had five children by now because we were together since we were 21 but there was never a time when either of us wanted it."

The Daily Mailreports that Liz's family and a group of their close friends are currently staying at Elton John's villa in the French Riviera.

Nothing stops Jack Nicholson from having a good time, not his age, his moobs or even the swine flu. Jack is continuing his French getaway this week in Cap d'Ail, outside of Monaco, where he was spotted snorkeling, slathering on sunscreen and jumping off of a boat with his kids yesterday. All that fun must have tuckered the old guy out though because he was also caughtsleeping on a random plot of sidewalk grass. Hey, everyone needs a good power nap now and then.

Hopefully his sudden sleepiness wasn't an early symptom of the Swine Flu. Last week, 64 cases of the flu were confirmed at the Centre Mediterranean Language School in Cap d'Ail though most of the students were sent home and weren't considered to be in any serious danger.

Jack Nicholson is still living the good life. The 72-year-old actually (yes, really! That old!) has been partying it up on the French Riviera over the past few days doing things that normal old folk would do. You know, like puffing on a cigarette while floating toes up in the Mediterranean and doing the limbo with a PYT in Cap Ferrat. Well, we bet we know what kind of museum-goer Jack is.

Meanwhile, the annual celebrity retreat to Saint-Tropez is moving into full swing. The Daily Mail reports that smoking cigarettes and drinking on a yacht called Serenity yesterday as it cruised through the French Riviera. Also reported in the area were some more old people--Ivana Trump and former French president, Jacques Chirac. Hmmm...how long until Beyonce and Jay-Z get there?

Last one in's a rotten egg! We're finding the best places in the world to stick our toes in this summer (or next winter) for our World's Coolest Pools map. Know of any pools we must check out? Let us know.

Ask the old lady with the full complement of well-traveled Louis Vuitton suitcases: Sometimes the deluxe original is still the best. If you'd rather look to the young and hip, they'd have to agree with the seasoned jetsetter that the Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc and its infinity pool is still one of the greats of the world. Twilight star Robert Pattinson will even vouch for it.

The grande dame hotel popular with the Cannes crowd was originally a mansion rented by loaded Americans during the Jazz Agein fact, it inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald to write Tender Is The Night after a stay with his friends in the uber-plush environs. So snooty is the hotel that, until 2006, it didn't even accept credit cards. And don't even think of stashing that cash in a non-designer bag.

The seawater-filled pool faces the Mediterranean and, if you remembered to bring it, your yacht. TripAdvisor commenters note that it can get crowded for those without the wherewithal to arrange for its private rental, so stake your claim to a chaise early.

While the summer is at its peak and you're no doubt tired of chugging bottled water under the sun at tourist sites, we're going to hit some of the world's best watering holes and down their famous summer cocktails. Bottoms up!

Tyically, when you tell someone that you are headed to "Le Festival" in Cannes on the French Riviera, they assume you mean the International Film Fest that takes place every May. But Cannes sparkles all throughout the summer, not just in May, and you may head to a different "Le Festival," a restaurant and bar, to toast your good fortune at being in paradise.

Occupying an enviable position right on Le Croisette, Cannes' stretch of beach, the bar Le Festival serves up fresh grilled fish and of course a slew of desserts doused in liqueur. But darling, you'd do well to remember that you're on the French Riviera and so you simply must ask to be seated out on the expansive patio with glasses of the restaurant's signature Festival Champagne.